Arlington County, Arlington Rat Control Situation:
Hello. I don't know if this is something you still do, but I need some expert advise so thought I'd give it a try! We are renting a house in Alexandria VA west of DC. I think it was built in the 60's, a ranch style home, and has been renovated but has much of the original doors, framework, etc. The guest bathroom in particular is not sealed off properly. It was an add-on and not done correctly, so the slab is cracked and eroding, as well as rotten wood with holes in it sealed with foam of all things! We have a beautiful courtyard and put out a couple bird feeders, but recently took them down when we noticed the sounds of critters in the attic. We've looked up there and so far the insulation looks almost new and other than a few cobwebs it's pretty clean up there. But there are a few droppings! I want to catch this early and eradicate the problem as quickly and humanely as possible for our safety and for the safety of our landlords house. It looks like you suggest sealing first, then traps, then clean-up. What do you think about the birdseed? Is it to blame? Or the wide open house? Can the rats be coming in from below the slab? My husband, ( this is his email btw) has heard them under the tub in the guest bathroom:// Any other tips? And are you by chance nearby in Arlington VA? Probably not, but just thought I'd check! Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Thank you for your time!
My response: The slab could be to blame. Perhaps there are multiple entries. I wouldn't know without seeing it, but I live in Orlando. Bird seed does attract rats, but really, the problem is that there are openings leading inside the house.
We have a roof rat problem. We've heard the little critter crawling around in our daughters upstairs bedroom (refinished attic /bedroom) for awhile now. My wife also saw the little guy in action on our neighbors bird feeder at about 3:30am this morning and then watched him head back up to our roof. That pretty much sealed the deal that we weren't dealing with squirrels... I can see a few potential issues. We don't have a way into the attic because of the way it was refinished. When previous owner did renovations, they didn't leave access point to portion of attic that is unfinished. There is also some flashing on roof that is pulled up and near where we hear the most noises. I was going to secure it, but don't want to trap anything in... Contact info is below. Give me a call on my cell, anytime, and I can go into more detail for you. Hopefully you can give me a rough estimate on the phone and then we can proceed from there. Definitely want to get this issue resolved. :)
Arlington Rat Control Tip of The Week
What Are The Best Baits To Use To Trap A Rat?
If you have the right kind of bait in place, trapping rats becomes relatively easy. These animals are naturally curious and become fearless when they see eye-catching foods. To remove them from your home, all you have to do is take advantage of this and trap as many rats as you can.
Are you looking for the best bait ideas that will help you trap all the rats in your house? Right here, we will be sharing some for you. But first, there is a particular thing you need to put in place if you want this to be effective. The first thing you need to do is to seal up every possible entry hole into your house to prevent more rats from gaining entrance. Once that is done, you can then go ahead to trap the rats in your house.
When it comes to rat baits, peanut butter is one of the best. This particular bait attracts rats more than any other type of bait. Apart from having a strong smell, it is easy to set on traps that you intend to use to capture the rats.
Other types of baits include pineapple, chocolate, bacon, whole nuts, berries, dried fruit, gumdrops, and many more. Each of these baits will help you to achieve exactly what you want without putting you through the stress of having to replace them over and over again just to help attract rats.
Having realized this, all you have to do is get one of these baits and place it on the trap in a manner that the rats passing will be able to see it and will want to have it.
